This was written by singer Jon Anderson and guitarist Steve Howe and produced by the band and Eddy Offord. The song originated when the band were on tour and travelled from Aberdeen to Glasgow, and went through many roundabouts on the way.
The song originated in March 1971 when the band were on tour promoting The Yes Album , travelling from Aberdeen to Glasgow after a gig in Aviemore, Scotland. They encountered many roundabouts on the way; Anderson claimed "maybe 40 or so", which inspired Anderson and Howe to write a song about the journey as they sat in the back of the band's transit van, and include the roundabouts and the surrounding mountains into the lyrics. Anderson had smoked marijuana during the trip, "so everything was vivid and mystical" Anderson added: "It was a cloudy day, we couldn't see the top of the mountains. We could only see the clouds because it was sheer straight up ... I remember saying, "Oh, the mountains–look! They're coming out of the sky!", and began to write the song's lyrics in his notebook in a free-form style with minimal edits. "I just loved how words sounded when I put them together". Within 24 hours, the band had arrived back home in London where Anderson reunited with his then wife Jennifer, which inspired the song's lyric "Twenty-four before my love, you'll see, I'll be there with you". A lake they passed as they neared Glasgow became the idea behind the line "In and around the lake". Upon their arrival at their hotel in Glasgow, Anderson and Howe began to put down song ideas on their recorder.
Howe recalled the track was originally "a guitar instrumental suite" and had a basic outline worked out when he first developed it. "All the ingredients are there—all that's missing is the song. "Roundabout" was a bit like that; there was a structure, a melody and a few lines." The song was recorded in sections in a series of tape edits, a method of recording that was still relatively new to the group. They had played it through in rehearsal several times, but Squire recalled the group would make sure to "get the first two verses really good" and record from there.
In its original form, the song began with the acoustic guitar, which Howe played on a 1953 Martin 00-18, but the group soon thought a more dramatic opening was needed. This led to Wakeman playing a note on the piano that was recorded and played backwards, creating an effect that Howe described "as if it's rushing towards you". Wakeman played the lowest E note on his grand piano with the E an octave higher which gave it "a fatter feel". Offord recalled a considerable amount of time was spent to get it right in the studio because it involved a lengthy process of picking the right note to use, and editing it correctly. Howe thought the piano added a sense of drama, intensity, and colour to the song. An early idea had the song start with what Anderson described as "something of a Scottish jig" on Howe's acoustic guitar, which he had played to Anderson in their Glasgow hotel room.
Squire played his bass guitar parts with an overdub that was one octave higher using Howe's Gibson ES-150 electric guitar and mixed with his bass track. To complement Squire's playing, Wakeman played arpeggios on his Hammond C3 organ on his right hand while playing Squire's bass parts with his left. For the song's slower section, he plays a Minimoog synthesiser and flute sounds on a Mellotron which he said gave the section a "Strawberry Fields mood". Apart from his acoustic guitar, Howe plays a 1961 electric Gibson ES-5 Switchmaster throughout the song. Anderson noted the music has a "Scottish feel" to it and described the solo part as like a reel, a traditional Scottish country dance.
Once the music tracks had been put down, Anderson entered the studio early one morning and recorded his lead vocals. When the rest of the group arrived, they recorded the vocal harmonies. At the end of the song Anderson, Squire and Howe perform three-part harmonies that is repeated eight times, during which they also sing a second harmony part that Anderson said resembles the main melody to the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice". He later revealed Wakeman is singing the notes to the rhyme which was placed "against the grain of what we were doing" to make it sound more intriguing. To close, Howe repeated his acoustic guitar introduction but ended on an E major chord.
[ - ] calx 1 point 2.6 yearsOct 23, 2021 22:01:33 ago (+1/-0)
COF
So this outstanding song was actually inspired by common roadway roudabouts?! I hate those damn things! Love this song tho and the album it's fantastic ha thanks for the background information.
[ + ] COF
[ - ] COF 3 points 2.6 yearsOct 23, 2021 08:14:27 ago (+3/-0)
The song originated in March 1971 when the band were on tour promoting The Yes Album , travelling from Aberdeen to Glasgow after a gig in Aviemore, Scotland. They encountered many roundabouts on the way; Anderson claimed "maybe 40 or so", which inspired Anderson and Howe to write a song about the journey as they sat in the back of the band's transit van, and include the roundabouts and the surrounding mountains into the lyrics. Anderson had smoked marijuana during the trip, "so everything was vivid and mystical" Anderson added: "It was a cloudy day, we couldn't see the top of the mountains. We could only see the clouds because it was sheer straight up ... I remember saying, "Oh, the mountains–look! They're coming out of the sky!", and began to write the song's lyrics in his notebook in a free-form style with minimal edits. "I just loved how words sounded when I put them together". Within 24 hours, the band had arrived back home in London where Anderson reunited with his then wife Jennifer, which inspired the song's lyric "Twenty-four before my love, you'll see, I'll be there with you". A lake they passed as they neared Glasgow became the idea behind the line "In and around the lake". Upon their arrival at their hotel in Glasgow, Anderson and Howe began to put down song ideas on their recorder.
Howe recalled the track was originally "a guitar instrumental suite" and had a basic outline worked out when he first developed it. "All the ingredients are there—all that's missing is the song. "Roundabout" was a bit like that; there was a structure, a melody and a few lines." The song was recorded in sections in a series of tape edits, a method of recording that was still relatively new to the group. They had played it through in rehearsal several times, but Squire recalled the group would make sure to "get the first two verses really good" and record from there.
In its original form, the song began with the acoustic guitar, which Howe played on a 1953 Martin 00-18, but the group soon thought a more dramatic opening was needed. This led to Wakeman playing a note on the piano that was recorded and played backwards, creating an effect that Howe described "as if it's rushing towards you". Wakeman played the lowest E note on his grand piano with the E an octave higher which gave it "a fatter feel". Offord recalled a considerable amount of time was spent to get it right in the studio because it involved a lengthy process of picking the right note to use, and editing it correctly. Howe thought the piano added a sense of drama, intensity, and colour to the song. An early idea had the song start with what Anderson described as "something of a Scottish jig" on Howe's acoustic guitar, which he had played to Anderson in their Glasgow hotel room.
Squire played his bass guitar parts with an overdub that was one octave higher using Howe's Gibson ES-150 electric guitar and mixed with his bass track. To complement Squire's playing, Wakeman played arpeggios on his Hammond C3 organ on his right hand while playing Squire's bass parts with his left. For the song's slower section, he plays a Minimoog synthesiser and flute sounds on a Mellotron which he said gave the section a "Strawberry Fields mood". Apart from his acoustic guitar, Howe plays a 1961 electric Gibson ES-5 Switchmaster throughout the song. Anderson noted the music has a "Scottish feel" to it and described the solo part as like a reel, a traditional Scottish country dance.
Once the music tracks had been put down, Anderson entered the studio early one morning and recorded his lead vocals. When the rest of the group arrived, they recorded the vocal harmonies. At the end of the song Anderson, Squire and Howe perform three-part harmonies that is repeated eight times, during which they also sing a second harmony part that Anderson said resembles the main melody to the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice". He later revealed Wakeman is singing the notes to the rhyme which was placed "against the grain of what we were doing" to make it sound more intriguing. To close, Howe repeated his acoustic guitar introduction but ended on an E major chord.
[ + ] calx
[ - ] calx 1 point 2.6 yearsOct 23, 2021 22:01:33 ago (+1/-0)
So this outstanding song was actually inspired by common roadway roudabouts?! I hate those damn things! Love this song tho and the album it's fantastic ha thanks for the background information.